Do you have ears to hear?
A RESOURCE FOR INTERPRETING PARABLES
What is a parable? Believe it or not, wikipedia has a decent page on parables. There are a lot of ways to define a parable, and none that encompass all parables. Probably a more important question for us would be; what is the purpose of parables?
The function of parables
In most cases parables are some sort of extended analogy used to convince or persuade. At their core they are designed to call forth a response. They do so by teaching about God, His Kingdom and God’s expectations for his Kingdom followers.
Interpreting parables
“The intent of the teller- Jesus himself- with all the power and creativity of his teaching must be the goal of our interpretive work. These are stories with intent, the communicative intent of Jesus”
Klyne Snodgrass from Stories with Intent
A good place to start is by praying and asking God to help you understand and apply the parable to your own life! Parables work best if you mull them over. They were designed to be heard orally, so listen to a parable every day as you walk to class.
Tips for interpreting parables:
1. Try to figure out the response Jesus is trying to get. You can ask: How did Jesus seek to change attitudes and behaviors with this parable? What is the implied question this parable addresses? Often this is revealed at the end of the parable.
2. The main characters, and often only the main characters, stand for something. Often Jesus uses parables to contrast 2 types of people. You can ask with whom would the original hearers have identified? How would they have heard and responded when they heard this parable? Are there any clues in the context that might help us understand who the characters correspond to? Trying to put yourself in the shoes of the original hearers will help you understand the point and the force of Jesus’ teaching.
3. Just like any other piece of scripture, context matters! Who is he speaking to? What is happening around these parables? What prompted Jesus to tell this parable?
4. Parables utilize hyperbole and surprise to shock people into action. For example the judgment parables often use shocking language not to describe judgment, but to wake people up that judgment is real and serious. We have to be very careful not to read too much into some of the details of parables. Remember that Jesus is trying to move people to action, not just teach a lot of facts about a subject.
5. Interpret what is given, not what is omitted. Again, parables are not allegories, they are simple stories that seek to make a point and move people to action.
6. Look for the unexpected turn. This will be hard for those of us that have heard these stories a lot. However, when they were told, there was an element of surprise that drove home the point (what? The unclean Samaritan is the “good guy”? What? The tax collector is righteous not the Pharisee?).
7. Remember that parables are not the only teachings by Jesus. Some of the parables can be harsh (especially to religious hypocrites) but this does not nullify his love, mercy and grace that is evident in the Gospels as well as the whole Bible. In fact it is His kindness that leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4).
Reference works:
Stories with Intent; Klyne Snodgrass
This is a challenging commentary on the parables. A lot of my information about parables came from this book.
How to Study the Bible for All It’s Worth; Fee and Stuart
This is a great little book that gives you an overview on how to study each genre of scripture.
Luke; Darrell Bock
This is a huge, but great commentary on Luke. We will be studying a lot of parables in Luke this year.